Chistoe Nebo

Chistoe Nebo (russian Чистое небо, means clear sky) is an ecovillage created on top of abandoned villages Kovalevka, Drozdovo, Dashkovo, Shalkovo and Dubischi. It was created in 2007, started growing 2012 and now there are 23 families living full time with 3-5 more families preparing to move. This is the only case of reinhabiting abandoned territories in Sebezh district.

It is 30 km from Sebezh. Taxi would get you there in about 30 minutes and would cost around 400 rubles. There are guest houses and a camping site if you wish to stay for a night.

Description

The village occupies about 100 ha of land on the west coast of Lake Olbito, and mostly consists of lands near the main road, which is 6 km long. Families typically own 2-5 hectars of land, usually surrounded by forests, which mostly consist of alder, aspen and birch. Few homesteads are near the lake, most are over 500 meters away and have their private swimming ponds. Drinking water comes from private wells, there are two private boreholes.

Current inhabitants all came from big cities, mostly St. Petersburg or Moscow. Some have remote job and work online, most earn their money locally, including by handcraft (mostly carpentry). Most people have gardens, some keep goats and chickens, there's one horse and one tree nursery. Some families accept volunteers, which implies 4 hours of farm work in exchange for shelter and food (3 vegetarian meals a day).